


Late Night Remedy

by HummusandPeeta



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Meeting the Parents, Nightmares, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:42:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28480104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HummusandPeeta/pseuds/HummusandPeeta
Summary: The cure to any late night terror is to try and regain a sense of peace and calm. What or who is able to calm down Kevin? Kevin's mother is determined to figure it out. (Gwevin).
Relationships: Kevin Levin/Gwen Tennyson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. That Night

**Author's Note:**

> (Story copied from my Fanfiction account). I couldn’t fall asleep the other night and I guess it’s because I was busy trying to plan this story! Hopefully it’s good! This story takes place during the Alien Force timeline, sometime before In Charm’s Way and Vendetta, since Gwen hasn’t met Kevin’s mother yet. Kevin also doesn’t know that Gwen is searching for a way to cure him. Also everything written in italic are text messages sent between Gwen and Kevin. Enjoy! And Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you all a lot of happiness, love and good health!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Ben 10 and characters.

Kevin awoke with a start. He could instantly feel that he was covered in sweat and everything felt uncomfortable. He immediately and rather aggressively removed the sheets that were covering his body. He sat up in bed, trying to catch his breath. 

Another nightmare. They had been plaguing him for weeks now, ever since Tennyson had hacked the Omnitrix to try and unlock its full power to fight off Vilgax. Since then, he now spent most of his days self-conscious about his appearance and how he had once again become a monster. And now it seemed like his nights were cursed to be the same. No, not the same, worse. In his dreams, he wasn’t just a mismatch of different materials, he had somehow turned back into the monster he was when he was a child. He hated it.

Kevin knew he wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep anytime soon. He groaned, getting out of bed. There was no point lying in bed, he had done it countless times before to no avail. The only thing that would work was to distract himself. He had tried before sitting in the living room to watch TV or going in the garage to work on his car. But both times he had already tried that, he had accidentally made too much noise and had woken his mother. He didn’t want her to be worried about him. He had managed to avoid suspicion the last times she had found him awake in the middle of the night by claiming his stomach was upset after eating too late at night. But she was a mom, she was bound to figure out the truth sooner or later. Kevin hadn’t told her yet about his latest mutation and he wanted to keep it that way. 

He decided his best course of action was to quietly sneak out of the house. He glanced over at the alarm clock on his bedside table. He groaned again when he realised it was only 2 am. He had only managed to sleep for about two hours. It was going to be a long night. As quietly as he could, he got out of bed. From his nightstand, he grabbed his keys, Plumbers badge and cellphone. Before leaving his room, he put his ID mask back on. He had taken it off while sleeping in order not to risk damaging it. He knew his mom wouldn’t walk into his room without knocking first and Harvey was away for the week on a business trip, so there had been no risk in removing it to sleep. He didn’t want them knowing he was a monster once again. Maybe he’d tell his mother eventually, but there never seemed to be a right moment to do so and he didn’t want to disappoint her. 

He peeked his head out of his bedroom door and looked towards his mom’s bedroom. Her door was closed and her lights seemed to be off. The coast was clear. He crept through the house and exited through the front door, making sure to lock it behind him. 

Luckily his car was parked in the driveway so he didn’t have to worry about opening the garage door and making a lot of noise. As soon as he sat down and closed the car door behind him, he felt like he could breathe properly again. Some people would probably find this strange since he had, seconds ago, been outside in the fresh, cool air of the night. But his car was his safe space. A few hours driving around aimlessly was sure to cure him.

He turned his car on and pulled out of the driveway. He didn’t want to be enveloped in silence, so he uncharacteristically turned the radio on. He wasn’t sure what channel it was turned to since Gwen and Ben were usually the ones playing with the radio. He honestly didn’t care what songs ended up playing, he just wanted to escape his thoughts. 

Kevin wasn’t quite sure where to go, he had had no clear plan when he left his house, he just wanted to drive. So he turned on to whichever streets seemed the emptiest and would bring him the farthest away from his own home. 

He kept his eyes on the road and drummed his fingers along to the beat coming out from the stereo. He drove around aimlessly for a while. He felt calmer but he knew that if he returned home now, he would still be unable to sleep. He needed to exhaust himself so that as soon as he got in bed, he would fall asleep. 

He took a right on the next possible street, trying to once again drown out his thoughts. However, he quickly realised that this wasn’t a random street. Somehow, he had managed to turn on to Gwen’s street. 

His head was soon filled with thoughts of Gwen, like it usually was whenever she was around. She had that effect on him. He wondered to himself if she was awake, seeing her would surely calm him down. But then he remembered his situation. Glancing down at the clock on his dashboard, he realised it was now almost 2:30 am and that there was no chance that she was awake.

Still he continued on to the end of her street instead of turning around and driving away. He pulled up and parked in front of her driveway. To his surprise, the lights in her room were on. Why was she awake? He knew it was a school night and that she preferred to get as much sleep as she could to be able to perform well in class. She must be working on a project or studying he told himself. 

He knew he probably shouldn’t bother her if she was busy, but he couldn’t help himself. He quickly pulled out his cellphone and texted her. 

‘’ _ Hey. Why are you awake? _ ’’ he wrote before returning his gaze to her bedroom window. It wasn’t long before he received a reply.

‘’ _ I could ask you the same thing _ ,’’ she had written. He chuckled at her answer. He was about to type a reply when he received another message from Gwen. ‘’ _ Why are you spying on me? _ ’’ 

He looked up from his phone and noticed that Gwen was now standing at her bedroom window, staring down at him. He saw her grab her phone and type another message. Just as his phone received the incoming message, she disappeared out of view.

‘’ _ Stay there, I’ll come see you. _ ’’ The message read. He felt a twinge of guilt for bothering her, but it was quickly drowned out by the fact that he was going to see Gwen for a bit. Movement coming from the direction of her house pulled him out of his thoughts. The light was now off in her bedroom and Gwen was quietly slipping out of her house through the front door. 

He noticed that she was still wearing the same clothes from earlier that day, meaning she hadn’t taken the time to relax since he dropped her off after school. When she reached his car, she opened the passenger door and slipped inside, sitting down in her usual spot. She closed the door behind her before turning to face him. He immediately noticed dark circles around her eyes, she seemed exhausted. 

‘’Hey,’’ she said breathlessly, giving him a brief, warm smile. ‘’Is everything okay?’’ she asked, slightly concerned.

How did she know? He had always prided himself on being cunning and secretive, but it seemed he would never be able to hide stuff from Gwen. 

‘’Yeah,’’ he tried lying to her. He wasn’t in the mood to talk about his nightmares. ‘’I’m great, just thought I’d stop by and say hello,’’ he joked.

‘’Really? At 2:30 in the morning?’’ she instantly replied, giving him the look that said she saw right through his bullshit. 

‘’Really,’’ he grinned back at her. He enjoyed the bantering that often ensued when they were alone. If he kept it up, he would be able to distract her long enough to avoid talking about what was bothering him. ‘’You never answered my question, you know. So shouldn’t I be interrogating you first?’’

‘’I’m working on an essay,’’ she replied swiftly. It almost felt like a lie. Kevin was somewhat of a pro at lying, but he couldn’t think of why she would be lying about doing homework. He decided not to confront her about it. ‘’What about you? Did you suddenly have an urge to help me with my homework?’’ she said, pulling him out of his thoughts once again.

‘’Sure, if you want to fail,’’ he joked but he saw the reaction his comment had caused. Gwen didn’t like it when he made fun of himself, she was always quick to remind him that he wasn’t dumb like people seemed to think he was. He needed to change the subject again and quickly. Self-deprecating jokes were not the route to take tonight. ‘’I wasn’t tired so I decided to go out for a drive. Thought you’d like to join. Clearly you need saving from your essay.’’

She hesitated before answering, reading his body language. She seemed to know something was wrong, but to his surprise, she seemed to let it go. ‘’Where are we going?’’ she asked as she turned to put her seatbelt on. 

‘’What about your folks? Won’t they freak if they notice you're not in bed sleeping?’’ Kevin knew her parents still didn’t like him that much, he doubted they would suddenly start inviting him over for family dinners if they found out he had basically kidnapped her in the middle of the night. 

‘’I’ll deal with it if it comes to that. So, where are we going?’’ she asked him again.

‘’Wherever you want,’’ he replied, already pulling back on to the road. 

‘’Surprise me,’’ she told him, reaching to turn the volume of the radio up a bit. Kevin smiled as he drove off.

* * *

Kevin had driven them out of town, they were the only ones on the road at this hour. They drove mostly in silence, he liked it best that way. The only noise was that of the radio and Gwen’s soft voice on the rare occasions that she sang along to some songs that she knew. Listening to her sing, he couldn’t help but smile. She seemed happy and relaxed; and he was starting to feel the same way too. 

These were his favorite moments, when it was just the two of them, no aliens to worry about, no Ben to bother them and no constant fear about hiding his freakish mutation. He wished he could stay in this moment forever, but after a while he noticed that Gwen kept yawning. He knew it was time to drive her back home. It was almost 4 in the morning already. To his surprise, he was also starting to feel a tad tired, maybe he would be able to get some sleep after all. 

Gwen didn’t protest when she noticed that he had started driving back towards her house. When Kevin eventually arrived in front of her home, he turned off his car, but kept the key in the ignition, he didn’t want to alert Gwen’s parents to his presence. 

Gwen undid her seatbelt and turned to better face Kevin. ‘’Thanks for saving me from my essay,’’ she told him, smiling at their joke from earlier that night.

‘’Anytime,’’ Kevin answered, smiling back at her. ‘’Are you going to go and finish it or try and get some sleep?’’ 

‘’Sleep, definitely,’’ she replied, ironically fighting off a yawn. ‘’I probably won’t get much done in my state.’’

Kevin was glad that she was being smart about this, she definitely needed to sleep. 

‘’What about you, are you feeling better?’’ Gwen asked him. They hadn’t talked about what really brought him to her house that night. Technically Gwen shouldn’t even know something was bothering him. But she did and she cared about him. So, he decided not to lie this time. 

‘’Yeah, I think I am,’’ he told her sincerely. ‘’Thanks for coming with me.’’ 

‘’Anytime,’’ Gwen said, copying his response from earlier. She then leaned over and gently kissed him on the cheek. ‘’Goodnight Kevin.’’

As she pulled away from his face, Kevin couldn’t help but smile once again. ‘’Goodnight Gwen.’’

She smiled back at him before turning to open the car door and step back into the cool early morning air. ‘’I’ll see you after school?’’ she asked him, already knowing the answer. 

‘’Yeah, I’ll pick you up, same time, same place.’’ Kevin answered, turning the keys to start the car. 

Before closing the car door, she leaned back down in order to see him properly when she spoke. ‘’Remind me to bring my iPod next time you pick me up for a late-night drive, my music selection is way better than what was on the radio.’’ She flashed him a grin before shutting the car door and walking back to her house.

Kevin waited to make sure that she made it safely inside before driving off. With no traffic, it was a short drive home. This time, as he drove, the only thought occupying his head was that of how lucky he was to have met Gwen all those years ago.

* * *

Kevin’s mother had heard her son leave the house in the middle of the night. She had actually been awoken minutes before by the sounds of Kevin screaming, obviously waking from a nightmare. She had wanted to go and check on him but stopped herself. She had noticed his recent struggle with sleeping and had tried to reach out to help him the previous times he had been awake in the middle of the night, but he kept pushing her away. At what point did she stop trying? Would Kevin eventually give in and confide in her or would he become angry and start pushing her away even more? Before she could make up her mind, her son had already left the house.

Regretting her hesitation, she decided to remain awake to talk to him when he would eventually return. Her son was obviously struggling with something and she would be there for him, whether he liked it or not. 

At almost five in the morning, she heard the familiar sound of his car pulling into the driveway. She quickly got out of her bed to put on her bathrobe and slippers. 

She heard Kevin walk into the house, even if he was trying to remain quiet, because he thought she was asleep. The lights were off in the house, so he had no reason to suspect she was awake. 

She opened the door to her room as she heard his footsteps at the end of the hallway. Her eyes had long ago adjusted to the darkness but even so, she questioned what she saw. Kevin was smiling as he made his way to his bedroom. She wasn’t expecting happiness to be radiating off of him when he returned. 

As soon as he registered that her door was open, his smile faltered. ‘’Ma? Did I wake you? I’m sorry.’’

‘’It’s fine honey,’’ she said honestly, but still hesitant about her son’s good humour. ‘’Is everything okay, why are you awake?’’

‘’I’m fine now, don’t worry,’’ he told her, his smile reappearing, but he looked incredibly tired. ‘’Trust me,’’ Kevin tried reassuring her once again. ‘’I’m really tired though. I need to sleep, but can we talk in the morning?’’

Sensing that he was sincere, she nodded in response. Kevin rarely took the initiative to ask if they could talk, she normally had to force information out of him. She was happy he was opening up to her, but she couldn’t help but be nervous as to what he was going to tell her. 

Kevin nodded a final time, checking everything was okay before walking to his own bedroom and closing the door.

She let out a sigh that she hadn’t realised she had been holding in. Call it motherly instincts, but she was positive someone was to thank for Kevin’s change of humour. She was determined to figure out who it was and invite them to dinner to thank them. Whoever they were, they had made her son smile again, even if for a bit, and she would be forever grateful. 


	2. The Next Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After having seen her son unexpectedly return home in a good mood after having a nightmare, Kevin's mother is determined to figure out who helped him. And she's determined to meet them. (Gwevin).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that read the last chapter, I hope you enjoy the conclusion of this story! I listened a lot to the song Still into You by Paramore while writing this chapter. I feel like this song describes Gwen's view of Kevin and their relationship. Also, since Kevin’s mom doesn’t have a name in the show, I’ve taken the liberty of giving her one and it’s Josephine!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Ben 10 and characters.

‘’I was wondering when you were finally going to wake up,’’ Josephine Levin said to Kevin as he walked into the kitchen. She was warmly smiling at him from her chair at the small kitchen table. 

Kevin honestly wasn’t even sure what time it was. All he knew was that, for the first time in a long time, he had managed to peacefully sleep through the night after returning from his impromptu drive with Gwen. 

‘’Are you hungry?’’ she asked her son. ‘’I could warm up some leftovers from my lunch.’’

‘’Yeah, thanks,’’ Kevin replied as he sat down at the table in front of her. He glanced over to the small clock that was built into the microwave and noticed it was already way past noon. Meanwhile, his mom was quick to her feet when she heard his response, making her way to the fridge to grab the plate she had prepared for him in advance. 

‘’Did you manage to sleep well after you came back?’’ she inquired as she placed the plate in the nearby microwave. She already knew the answer to her own question, she had heard him snoring through the walls when she had woken up a couple of hours after their conversation in the hallway. She was hoping to give her son an opening to make good on his promise of explaining to her what had been bothering him lately. 

‘’Yeah, I did,’’ Kevin answered, sounding surprised by his own answer. 

‘’That’s good, I’m glad,’’ she answered, giving her son another warm smile. The room grew quiet once she had finished her sentence. She might need to prompt him a little bit more after all. ‘’Was it your stomach bugging you again?’’ Josephine asked, playing dumb. 

‘’No,’’ Kevin replied awkwardly. He was rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact like he did whenever he was nervous to tell her something. ‘’That’s um... actually what I wanted to talk to you about,’’ he finally managed to say as the microwave beeped, signaling that his lunch was ready. 

‘’I’m all ears, honey,’’ Josephine told him before carefully grabbing the hot plate of food out of the microwave and putting it on the placemat in front of her son. She then sat back down at the table in front of him. 

‘’Right...’’ he said, poking the food on his plate with his fork, trying to avoid eye contact. ‘’There’s no easy way to say this.’’

‘’You can tell me anything, you know that right?’’ she told her son, reaching her hand across the table, offering it as a comforting gesture. At this movement, Kevin’s eyes left his plate and looked at the hand in front of him. He had avoided physical contact and had been careful about revealing his secret since his mutation. He knew that the moment he touched her hand, she would know something was wrong. Maybe it was easier than telling her. He had been trying to find the right words for days now, to no success. Either way, he knew she would be disappointed that he wasn’t normal. 

He was a coward as he finally chose to close the gap between his and his mother’s hand instead of saying it out loud. As soon as the cool metallic feeling of his hand touched his mom’s skin, her expression quickly changed from concern to surprise. But she was fast to mask the shock. She didn’t see her son as a monster like she knew he saw himself, but she was concerned as to how this had happened. He hadn’t had trouble controlling his powers since he was a child. 

Kevin thought his mother would release his hand in shock or disgust but instead she gripped it more tightly and rubbed gentle and calming circles in the palm of his hand. For some reason, this broke him more than the reaction he had been expecting. Why had he thought she would be disgusted? 

‘’Kevin,’’ his mom said, pulling him out of his thoughts. ‘’You know I don’t think any differently of you. This doesn’t define you, you’re still my son and I love you.’’

‘’I know you love me, Ma,’’ Kevin whispered, trying to control his emotions. ‘’I just didn’t want to disappoint you. I’m stuck like this, I can’t change back.’’

‘’How did it happen?’’ she asked. She knew her son helped local hero, Ben Tennyson, and his cousin Gwen. She had learned about it several months ago after Kevin started frequently coming home at all hours of the night, covered in bruises. Worried he had taken up with a bad crowd, she had forced him to tell her what was going on. She had been so proud and happy to find out he was trying to do good and make a change in the world. After that initial discussion, he didn’t often tell her about what he did with Ben, but she knew he used his alien heritage for good. 

‘’I tried to help Ben unlock more powers from his Omnitrix to defeat an alien warlord and conqueror. I knew it was risky but I still did it. Something went wrong, the whole machine and my garage blew up and when I came to, I looked like this.’’ 

To emphasize his point, he removed his ID mask, revealing his true self to his mother. She didn’t flinch or show disgust. She looked proud of him. 

‘’How could I be disappointed in you? You were helping a friend and trying to save the world. I’m just sad that you got hurt,’’ Josephine answered honestly. ‘’Is this why you’ve been having trouble sleeping?’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Kevin replied, suddenly feeling embarrassed. His mom’s reaction made him feel like he’d been overreacting. He probably should have told her sooner. 

‘’Oh, honey,’’ she said, feeling sad that she hadn’t been able to help her son sooner. ‘’What can I do to help?’’

‘’Nothing,’’ Kevin told her, feeling defeated. If he knew the cure, he would have changed back by now. 

‘’Are you sure?’’ she insisted. ‘’What happens next time you’re woken up by nightmares and can’t fall back asleep? I’m sure whoever you went to see last night won’t always be there to help you,’’ she said, finally revealing all her cards.

‘’How did you know about that?’’ Kevin asked, genuinely surprised before remembering she was a mom and that they had a super power for figuring everything that involved their children. 

‘’Well, I haven’t seen you smile like that in quite a while, especially after waking up from a nightmare,’’ she said, giving him a smile. ‘’Is it someone I know?’’

‘’Gwen,’’ Kevin said shyly, unable to hide his smile at the simple mention of her name. ‘’Ben’s cousin,’’ Kevin quickly followed up in case his mom didn’t remember who she was. He had in the past mentioned Gwen the couple of times he had talked with his mother about his hero work with Ben. He had never told his mom that he was dating Gwen. But for what reason, he didn’t know. He was starting to feel like he’d messed up as a son. Didn’t people normally tell their parents when they started dating someone? Gwen’s parents had known about him from the very beginning. But then again, his life and relationship with his parents had never been like Gwen’s. 

‘’And she makes you happy?’’ Josephine asked her son, but she was pretty sure she knew what his answer was going to be. 

‘’Incredibly,’’ Kevin answered, his smile growing ever bigger. ‘’But you’re not mad I didn’t tell you about her sooner?’’ His smile faltered as he said those words. 

‘’Of course not,’’ she reassured Kevin. ‘’You’re not obliged to tell me everything that happens in your life, but I do like knowing stuff, especially the stuff that makes you happy.’’

‘’Okay, well anything you want to know about Gwen, I’ll happily tell you,’’ Kevin replied, half-jokingly, half-honestly. He could spend all day talking about how amazing Gwen was. 

‘’That’s great. So when can I meet her?’’

‘’Uh,’’ Kevin stuttered.

‘’Are you going to see her after school? I’m assuming that’s where she is right now?’’ she continued asking her son. She wasn’t mad at Kevin for not telling her about Gwen, after all, she had also kept her first boyfriend a secret from her parents. But she could still have a bit of fun with Kevin, that’s the only reason she suggested meeting Gwen today. ‘’Harvey’s not here, it would be the perfect time to meet her. Why don’t you invite her over for supper?’’

‘’Isn’t that too formal?’’ Kevin countered, obviously trying to make things less official. If he had it his way, Josephine was sure he’d introduce her to Gwen and then immediately find an excuse to leave with her before she could embarrass him. 

‘’You’re right, it does seem formal for such a short notice,’’ she replied. She heard Kevin sigh in relief, thinking he was in the clear. But she wasn’t done having her fun. ‘’Invite her over for coffee, she’s probably going to need some after you kept her up all night, she probably didn’t sleep in like you did.’’

‘’You’re not going to let this go, are you?’’ Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at his mom. He had caught on to what she was doing.

‘’Where do you think you get your stubbornness from, honey?’’ 

‘’Okay fine,’’ Kevin finally relented. ‘’I’ll ask her when I go pick her up, but if she has other plans or wants to catch up on sleep, we’re going to reschedule, okay?’’

‘’Of course!’’ Josephine replied. ‘’But I’m sure she’ll say yes,’’ she concluded, playfully winking at her son.

‘’Please don’t embarrass me while she’s here,’’ Kevin groaned, as if sensing what his mom had in store as revenge for not confiding in her sooner. 

‘’I don’t know what you’re talking about Kevin,’’ she answered innocently. ‘’I’ll bake us some cookies.’’

* * *

As Kevin pulled up to the sidewalk of Gwen’s fancy prep school, he took a deep breath. He shouldn’t be so nervous, things would be fine. His mom wouldn’t actually say anything to embarrass him. Or at least he hoped it wouldn’t be too embarrassing. He was grateful his mom was already so accepting of Gwen despite just finding out about her. Sometimes, he wished Gwen’s parents could feel the same way about him, especially after knowing him for so long. 

Lost in his thoughts, Kevin didn’t notice Gwen walk up to his car and open the door. Her actions brought him back to reality. He then watched her wave goodbye to her friend Emily before sitting down and closing the door behind her. 

‘’Hey Kevin,’’ she said as she removed her backpack and placed it on the floor by her feet. ‘’Did you manage to fall asleep when you got home?’’

‘’Yup, and I slept like a baby,’’ Kevin replied, doing a shoulder check before getting back on the road. ‘’You?’’

‘’Yes and I even decided to skip my run this morning and sleep in for an extra 45 minutes,’’ she explained.

‘’What a rebel,’’ Kevin playfully teased. 

Gwen rolled her eyes at his comment but smiled nonetheless. ‘’What are we going to do now, do you know if Ben needs us for something?’’

‘’Nope, haven’t heard from Tennyson since yesterday,’’ Kevin answered, keeping his eyes on the road. ‘’But listen, I need to ask you something.’’

‘’Is everything okay?’’ Gwen replied, suddenly feeling anxious. For some reason, Kevin seemed a tad tense, but she didn’t know why.

‘’I’m fine, but I talked to my mom this morning,’’ Kevin explained. ‘’I told her about my mutation.’’   
  
‘’How did she take it?’’ Gwen asked. Since the accident, Gwen had been reassuring Kevin that his mom wouldn’t judge him for it. But when he insisted on keeping it secret, she had dropped the subject and respected his wishes. Had she been wrong and his mom had instead reacted badly to the news?

‘’Really great actually, you were right, as always,’’ Kevin replied a bit bashfully.

‘’And yet you never listen,’’ Gwen bantered back. ‘’But seriously, I’m really happy it went well. It must be such a relief.’’ Gwen reached out to grab Kevin’s right hand, hopefully conveying her sincerity. Kevin accepted her hand and gave it a small squeeze.

‘’Thanks. Oh and I kinda also told her about us dating and now she wants to meet you, preferably right now over a cup of coffee at our house,’’ Kevin quickly told her. He didn’t want to lose his courage so he blurted it out in an awkward manner. 

‘’Really?’’ Gwen replied, she sounded excited.

‘’Yeah, you okay with that?’’ Kevin questioned.

‘’Of course! I’d love to finally meet your mom,’’ Gwen told him honestly. ‘’Based on the way you’ve talked about her in the past, she sounds amazing.’’

‘’You sure you don’t want to postpone until a later date, you look tired and you probably need to catch—’’

‘’Don’t even finish that sentence Kevin,’’ Gwen replied, knowing he was trying to find an excuse to avoid this. ‘’Just drive to your house, I don’t want to keep your mom waiting.’’

Kevin laughed and did as he was told. He hoped his mom was ready to meet someone who was just as stubborn as they were, maybe even more.

* * *

Josephine Levin heard the familiar sound of her son’s car pulling into the driveway. She had just finished making a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies and had placed them on the small coffee table near the couch in the living room. Not wanting to seem like she was just sitting around waiting for them to arrive, she returned to the kitchen to start her coffee machine and grab two mugs. Kevin didn’t like coffee so she wasn’t going to prepare one for him. He could get something from the fridge if he was thirsty. 

‘’I’m back,’’ Kevin said as he entered the house. 

As she heard her son and his girlfriend enter the home, she decided to exit the kitchen and greet them at the door. Leaving the kitchen, she got her first look at Gwen and she could immediately tell why Kevin was so smitten with her, she was incredibly beautiful. 

‘’Hello, I’m Josephine, Kevin’s mom,’’ she greeted as she approached the two teenagers. Gwen smiled brightly in response.

‘’Hi, it’s so nice to finally meet you, I’m Gwen,’’ the redhead said as she reached out her hand to shake Josephine’s hand. 

Instead, Josephine reached out with both arms and gently pulled Gwen into a hug. Gwen returned the hug.

‘’It’s nice to finally meet you too, even if Kevin only officially mentioned you today,’’ she said as she pulled out of the hug. Gwen giggled at this as her son awkwardly scratched the back of his head. ‘’Why don’t we go sit in the living room?’’ 

‘’Sounds good,’’ Gwen replied, following Kevin’s mom to the couch.

‘’Would you like some coffee? I heard you didn’t get much sleep last night,’’ Josephine asked. 

‘’That would be lovely, but it’s okay, I’m not that tired,’’ Gwen answered as she took a seat on one end of the couch. 

‘’Liar,’’ Kevin muttered under his breath as he awkwardly hovered beside the couch. But both Gwen and Josephine ignored his comment. 

‘’I’ll go grab you a cup, help yourself to the cookies on the table,’’ Josephine said as she left the room. ‘’And Kevin, you’re allowed to sit down beside Gwen you know,’’ she joked. 

Gwen giggled again at her boyfriend's behavior, it was rare that she ever saw him so flustered. In her opinion, he didn’t have anything to be worried about, but humans were weird sometimes. When Kevin finally sat down on the couch, Gwen gave him a questioning look as he had chosen to sit as far away as he physically could. 

‘’What?’’ Kevin responded to Gwen’s look.

‘’Did he sit at the opposite end of the couch?’’ Josephine inquired from inside the kitchen, clearly she was listening to what they were doing. 

‘’Yes,’’ Gwen replied, unable to hold in her laughter. 

‘’You don’t need to leave room for Jesus,’’ Kevin’s mom jokingly said as she entered the room with two cups of coffee in her hands. 

‘’I’m just trying to be proper!’’ Kevin defended himself but nonetheless moved closer to Gwen.

‘’That’s nice, now be yourself instead,’’ Josephine playfully told her son. ‘’Let me know if you want some sugar, milk or cream, I wasn’t sure how you liked your coffee,’’ she continued as she handed one of the mugs to her son’s girlfriend. 

‘’Thank you, but I actually prefer my coffee black,’’ Gwen replied, taking the cup of coffee and carefully placing it on the nearby table while it cooled down. 

‘’Perfect,’’ the older woman answered as she sat in the armchair across from the couch. ‘’Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself Gwen?’’

Kevin politely listened as the two women talked about stuff he already knew. What school Gwen went to, what classes she was taking, what she wanted to do once she graduated, questions about her family and so on. Once the formalities were over, they easily switched topics as they found lots of things to talk about. They didn’t mean to exclude Kevin from their conversation, they had simply gotten carried away talking about all the things they had in common. It turns out they had the same tastes in novels and had both read the most recent book published by some author Kevin vaguely recalled Gwen mentioning. Kevin didn’t mind not participating, he was simply enjoying watching the two women he loved the most in the world have fun and bond. As he vaguely paid attention to their discussion, he felt his stress about this meeting fade away, it once again felt silly to have been worried about such a thing. 

‘’What other hobbies do you enjoy?’’ Kevin heard Gwen ask his mother. 

‘’I love to knit, although I haven’t started a new project in a while,’’ Josephine replied. 

‘’Knitting seems like such a beautiful hobby, it must be fun being able to create your own clothes and stuff like that. I’ve always wanted to learn how to knit but I don’t have the time or the materials,’’ Gwen explained.

‘’Why don’t I teach you!’’ Josephine proposed happily. ‘’And you can borrow some of my needles and spare wool while you learn to get the hang of it.’’

‘’Really? That would be amazing, thank you so much!’’ Gwen said, a huge grin appearing on her face. 

‘’It would be my pleasure, sweetie,’’ she replied. ‘’Whenever you have some time off from school and you feel like it, you’re welcome to come over so I can teach you. Maybe just check with Kevin beforehand to make sure I’m home and not out doing some errands or something.’’

‘’I will,’’ Gwen promised. She turned her head to look at Kevin to make sure he was okay with their plan. She was surprised to see him leaning back into the couch with the biggest, goofiest smile she had ever seen gracing his face. Gwen could tell he wasn’t really paying attention since he didn’t notice that the both of them had stopped talking and were now looking at him. Gwen wished she could photograph this moment and cherish it forever, she rarely saw him so happy and carefree. 

‘’Kevin?’’ the redhead finally asked, deciding to gently grab his hand to get his attention.

‘’What?’’ Kevin answered, looking over at Gwen, although he still seemed to be in a bit of a daze. It took him a couple of seconds to clue in to the fact that both women were staring at him and giving him playfully confused looks. 

‘’What’s got you so happy?’’ Gwen asked him, trying hard to not laugh at his cute behavior.

‘’Nothing! Why don’t I go do the dishes while you two continue talking?’’ Kevin quickly deflected as he stood up from the couch.

‘’There aren’t many dishes to wash, honey,’’ Josephine replied. ‘’I put most of the things in the dishwasher.’’

‘’That’s fine I’ll just clean whatever’s left. And I can take your empty mugs,’’ Kevin rambled, grabbing their cups off the coffee table and quickly escaping to the kitchen. 

As soon as he was out of the room, both women looked at each other and softly giggled.

‘’I’ve never seen him act like that,’’ Gwen admitted, still smiling.

‘’Neither have I,’’ the older woman confessed. ‘’I think it’s because of you. I think you’re honestly the best thing that’s ever happened to him. You should have seen him when he came home last night. If I hadn’t heard him having his nightmares before he left, I wouldn’t have been able to guess by how happy and relaxed he was when he came home.’’

‘’He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me too,’’ Gwen replied honestly, blushing a bit. 

‘’Then I’m so glad you two found each other,’’ Josephine told Gwen. 

As the two women resumed their conversation about knitting, Kevin stood in the kitchen cleaning what little dishes were left in the sink. He was still smiling and seemed incapable of stopping. He had heard what his mom and girlfriend had just said, and he was also very happy to have Gwen in his life. He was happy and lucky to have them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m honestly not sure if I like what I wrote, but I wanted to post it anyways. Obviously, in the show, there’s not much information about Kevin’s mom or detailed descriptions about her relationship with her son. Kevin, to me, definitely feels like a mama’s boy, and seeing as he’s done some things in the past that he’s not proud of, he has a habit of hiding everything from her to spare her the pain of being disappointed, sad or angry. So to me, that’s why he didn’t tell her about Gwen at first. But once he realizes that not sharing that part of his life was silly, he tries to make things better and mentions Gwen all the time. And that’s why, in the episode Vendetta, Gwen mentions having met Kevin’s mom before. But I do apologize if all of this makes Kevin or his mom seem OOC. Anyways, reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome! Thank you for reading, take care!

**Author's Note:**

> Small context, when Kevin discovers that Gwen is awake in the middle of the night, he assumes she is stressing about homework as she normally does. What he doesn’t realize is that she is trying to find a cure for Kevin. She hides it from him when he asks her what she was doing since she knows he’s already bothered by something. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! Take care!


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